GAINESVILLE, Mo., May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On the point of open
access, collectors and some archaeologists do find common ground. In
response to the American Institute of Archaeology's public stand
against open access, the Open Access Archaeology organization has
reported that they will be removing all links to AIA materials and will
cease actively promoting AIA resources.

In an open letter on the AIA web site, president Elizabeth Bartman
takes aim at the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 introduced
in both houses of Congress on February 9th. Bartman says, "We at
the Archaeological Institute of America, along with our colleagues at
the American Anthropological Association and other learned societies,
have taken a stand against open access we particularly object to having
such a scheme imposed on us from the outside when, in fact, during the
AIA's more than 130-year history, we have energetically supported
the broad dissemination of knowledge..." Coin collectors largely
disagree and say that the AIA opposition to open access legislation is
self-serving and ironic. Although the bill would not even apply to AIA,
the organization's vocal condemnation exposes a philosophical
stance against public access to taxpayer-funded research. The
"dissemination of knowledge," cited by Professor Bartman, is
apparently not so liberal a view as to embrace open public access.
Collectors are reminded of George Orwell's words, "Who
controls the past controls the future."

Independent scholars, including private collectors of ancient coins
and other utilitarian objects, have long complained about a lack of
access to archaeological research materials. Many feel that the
attitudes and policies of academic archaeology are regressive and
purposely repress public knowledge-not unlike the cloistered academia of
the Middle Ages. In their scholarly publications, the AIA has for
decades restricted research information about artifacts that had not
been discovered through sanctioned archaeological excavations.

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild is a "grassroots"
non-profit organization that has been waging a legal battle against
broad-reaching, AIA-supported, import restrictions that unilaterally
target American collectors and the associated trade. Collectors, who
widely favor open access, point out that the vast majority of published
material about ancient coins is due to the work of private collectors,
independent scholars, coin dealers, and auction houses.

For information about the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, visit:

http://accg.us

Contact: Wayne G. Sayles, 417-679-2142, wgs@wgs.cc

This release was issued through The Xpress Press News
Service.http://www.XpressPress.com.

SOURCE Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG)

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